14 Ways to Stop Hating Your Small Bathroom

A small bathroom doesn’t have to equal big headaches; in fact, a little creative modification can go a long way. Tiny bathrooms can present great challenges to efficiency and comfort. But luckily, a few simple tweaks can trick the eye, streamline your storage, and make the most of those precious few square feet.

Lighten Up

To make a tiny bathroom feel larger, it’s generally wise to stay away from busy patterned wallpaper and dark colors. If you repaint your bathroom in a simple, light color scheme, the walls will bounce more light, making the room feel more open and airy.

Let Your Light Shine

While there’s nothing wrong with securing a builder-grade light fixture tightly to the ceiling, a pendant light can draw the eye upwards, making the space feel larger and providing a decorative element that adds interest to the room, without hogging space.

Dress It Up

Exposed sink pipes are a fixture in many small bathrooms; luckily they’re easy to conceal. One of the simplest and most classic solutions is to simply put a skirt over them. What’s more, you can even stash a few extras (like toilet paper or a shower caddy) behind the cloth to keep them hidden from view, too.

Find Some Clarity

Frosted shower doors may offer a bit of privacy, but a tiny bathroom is plenty private already. Try swapping out old frosted doors for clear ones to create the illusion of more a more spacious washroom.

Stand Up & Stick Together

Although a small medicine cabinet might seem hopelessly inefficient at first glance, the simple act of standing objects upright in repurposed jars can save a tremendous amount of space. For even more mileage, add magnetic strips inside the doors to store metal objects like nail clippers and pins.

What the Doctor Ordered

It’s amazing how quickly small bottles of potions and pills can take over a bathroom vanity. To give yourself extra breathing room, consider building a recessed medicine cabinet. An added bonus: A mirrored facade can add depth to the room, plus another angle from which to check out those pearly whites.

Mirror, Mirror

Optical illusions aren’t to be overlooked when maximizing a small space. Hang up more than one mirror—the larger, the better—to reflect as much natural light as possible and open up the space. If you share your tiny bathroom, these mirrors are more than decorative, but they are equally functional as well, allowing two people to prep and preen at once.

A Tisket, A Tasket

Never underestimate the power of a basket when it comes to stashing the bathroom clutter. Hair products, skincare containers, and more can be corralled into some semblance of order with an easy catch-all kept under the sink.

Slide On Over

For seriously small bathrooms, consider switching out your traditional hinged door for a sliding door instead. Now, you no longer have to keep the radius clear every time you open it; instead, you can use every square inch of your bathroom floor. Just think: No more bruised elbows, and plenty of room to hang up damp towels.

Fancy Footwork

There’s no law that says you have to put shoes in that hanging mesh shoe organizer, so why not repurpose it for shower storage instead? Be sure your curtain rod is stable enough to handle some extra weight, and then suspend those shampoos and soaps in mid-air like magic. Just be sure to allow enough airflow for ample drying between showers.

Get Crafty

If you can’t seem to find a wall organizer that works for your small space, there’s no shortage of DIY inspiration to be found. Measure and build a system that works specifically for your bathroom, making smart use of available wall space and using materials that work well with your aesthetic.

Hanging Around

Plenty of common objects can be repurposed into a towel rack, from angled bookcases to rustic ladders. Secure the edges to the wall and floor for added stability, or keep things loose if you want the freedom to move things around the room as you please.

Get Lifted

When you’ve got limited counter space around your sink, consider giving your cake stand or lazy Susan a new lease on life as bathroom storage. Not only does it add visual interest, it’s also an ingenious way to get your bathroom counter under control and give you extra room to boot.

Behind Closed Doors

Well-placed baskets and command hooks from the dollar store can go a long way toward doubling your cabinet space. Just secure them to the insides of those cabinet doors and save yourself the pain of searching every nook and cranny for the nail polish, cotton swabs, or whatever else you’d like to keep within reach.